Nekoosa Man Sentenced for Making False Statements

Nekoosa Man Sentenced for Making False Statements

MADISON, WI—John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Travis Billman, 24, Nekoosa, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Lynn S. Adelman to two years of probation for making false statements to the federal government. Billman pleaded guilty to this felony charge on May 20, 2014.

On April 5, 2012, an anonymous individual contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet website and reported that a friend was entering the Navy to work on nuclear reactors. The anonymous individual stated that this friend told him that he was going to steal nuclear blueprints from the Navy and sell the information. The investigation revealed that the author of the e-mail was Travis Billman.

On August 2, 2012, agents interviewed Billman and he admitted making the complaint to the FBI website and that it was false. Billman stated, however, that he must have been sleepwalking at the time he made the communication to the FBI website and, therefore, did not knowingly make the false statement.

An examination of Billman’s computer indicated that, minutes before the e-mail was sent to the FBI, Billman downloaded an application which was able to mask his IP address.

The charge against Billman was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Reinhard.